ISSTA 2017: Sound–Makers: technologies, practices and cultures

Creative audio and visual practices are increasingly moving from the digital sphere into the ‘real’ world––moving from bits to atoms (Ishii and Ullmer, 1997)––as physical computing technologies continue to become more widely affordable and accessible. Custom–made and repurposed controllers, gestural interfaces and intentionally hackable or reconfigurable instruments now support the creation and control of music and audio-visual media outside the mouse and keyboard paradigm and beyond normative models based on previously–established practices.

These technologies are increasingly being championed by grassroots movements which are driven by the designers, makers and creators who build and use them. Maker groups, festivals and social spaces––frequently more diverse and inclusive than established communities within academia and industrial R&D––have emerged to engage new creators and audiences through music, visual and sound art performances. Spanning disciplines such as controllerism, modular synthesis, interface design, circuit bending and live sound art, many practitioners and researchers are increasingly looking beyond code, bringing, integrating sensors and soldering within their classroom, stage and studio practices.

The Irish Sound, Science and Technology Association (ISSTA) invites makers, creators, performers, thinkers and researchers to come together to share their insights on this emerging field.

Perspectives on our call may include (but are not limited to) the following:

New creative approaches using self-designed or hacked controllers

Maker movements and the democratisation of technology

The gendering of maker spaces/hackspaces and/or other questions of inclusivity or exclusion

Open culture and creative technologies: sharing code, technologies and practices

Making/hacking and sustainability: installations and electronic music practices using recycled equipment

The Global West (or North) and the rest? Differences in global experiences of maker culture and spaces

Maker/hacker approaches and developments in education

We welcome the submission of papers, artworks, compositions/performances and workshops on these ideas and related topics for presentation at the 7th ISSTA Festival and Conference on Sound, 7th-8th September 2017, at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT).

Location

Equidistant between Belfast and Dublin, with excellent flight, public transport and motorway connections with both cities, DkIT is an education hub for creative technologies in Ireland’s Eastern Corridor region.

Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation and, where relevant, transport of materials; as a small, subscriber–funded organization, we are unable to provide artists’ fees but we do aim to keep registration fees as low as possible.